I Used To Live Here
by Holding A Heart
Summary: AU. Tate never shot up the school in 1994, and is back in LA seventeen years later to find 'nearly 18 year old' Violet currently residing in his old bedroom. She's completely forbidden and utterly tempting. Resistance is futile.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is a story I'm thinking about continuing - most likely I'm going to - after I finish my other Violet fic 'Stay With Me' and I thought I would just post the first chapter to see what the fandom thinks :D Enjoy!**

**WARNING: Ok, so there were people in reviews worried about pedophilia in this fic because Violet is 17 (a month off being 18) and Tate's 34. I just wanted to reassure some of you that nothing sexual happens between them until after her birthday, and that Tate doesn't even start to be sexually attracted to her until after she's 18, and it's all one sided from Violet in this chapter. I have added to the chapter just to make it clear that all Tate is thinking so far is friendship. I just wanted to clear it up for some people it might be a problem for, I just wanted Violet to be the same age as Tate was when he was in the house in this chapter, but she _is_ 18 in the next chapter. :) **

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><p>Tate leans against his car door, loosening his tie as he stares up at his childhood house. It hasn't changed at all in the past seventeen, or so, years. His eyes drift over the entire building before coming to rest on what used to be his bedroom window. His eye catches movement in the window and he wonders what kind of a family lives there now. What kind of issues do they have? Are they anything like what his family used to be like? Is the house doing to them what it did to him?<p>

He's bought out of his reverie as the front door slams shut and a teenage girl begins to walk down the path towards him. Her head is down, her mousy blonde hair hanging in her face and she doesn't notice him at first. He watches her open the black, iron gate and close it again behind her. As she turns, her head is still raised and she catches sight of the blonde man leaning against his car in a suit, staring at her. She shuffles forwards a few steps, readjusting her bag strap that's across her chest.

"Err, can I help you?" she asks, somewhat testily, her body hunched in a slightly defensive stance. He stares at her for a while longer, taking in her appearance, her dress sense much like his used to be back when he was a teenager. He looks at her long sleeves despite the sweltering heat and wonders if they're to hide the scars like he used to… She widens her already big, brown eyes at him and he shakes his head slightly, smiling at her.

"Yeah, sorry, it's just… this used to be _my_ house back when I was a teenager. It's been a while since I've been in LA and I just thought I'd come by and see if it's the same as it used to be… it is," he explains, smiling gently at her. She flashes him an awkward grin but makes no effort to move from the uncomfortable situation and go on – he looks at his watch – what he's presuming is her way to school. "I'm Tate," he says, holding out his hand after another moment's silence. She eyes him warily before slipping her small hand in his larger one.

She studies him as he grins at her and shakes her hand. He's quite good looking… really good looking; curly blonde hair, wide, glistening smile, cute dimples that make him look much younger than she presumes he is, the darkest eyes she's ever seen and could get totally lost in… She snaps herself out of it and quirks her mouth up at the side.

"Violet," she replies, dropping his warm hand eventually. She looks at the path to the left of her, not looking forward to the usual, dreary walk to school in the boiling heat. She looks at him and then his car which probably has AC. "Wanna give me a ride to school?" she asks hopefully, but with a brave air of nonchalance to her steady voice. He lets out a laugh.

"But you barely know me, Violet." She likes how her name sounds on his tongue. She mentally chastises herself. She'll be 18 next month but he's still probably a lot older than her. But, she's always liked an older man… "What if I'm some kind of psychopath?" he finishes, widening his eyes dramatically and leaning forwards slightly. She scoffs and stares at him, directly in the eye.

"My dad's a therapist. There are psychopaths in my house _daily_," she says, holding her head high, as if she's proud of her come back. He shakes his head and laughs at her again. She folds her arms over her chest and waits for his answer, not one to back down easily. Eventually, he sighs and shrugs.

"You know what? Sure, I'm headed that way anyway. Hop in," he says with a genuine smile, motioning to the passenger door as he opens the drivers side and gets in, starting up the engine as she jogs around the car and slips in beside him.

They sit in comfortable silence as the scenery whips by the windows. Violet tries to surreptitiously cast glances at Tate's profile as he drives with ease. As her eyes rake over his body, his strong hands gripping the wheel. She bites her lip against the moan that accompanies the tingle in her body at the thought of those hands running over her body. She turns away quickly, taking a couple of breaths and trying to distract herself with something, anything. She decides that conversation would be the best distraction.

"So… Tate. You said you hadn't been here in a while? Since you moved out of my house?" she starts, not quite sure where she's going with this.

"Yeah, it was a… difficult time for me and my family," he replies cautiously, his voice straining a little on the word family. "It was 1994, and I was 17. Around your age, right?" She nods a yes and does the math in her head. He'd be around… 34. Quite a bit of an age gap.

"I'll be 18 next month," she adds before she can stop herself, sounding like a petulant child who's trying to convince an adult she's 'all grown up'.

Ah, right," he says, somewhat amused. She scowls slightly out of the windshield, noticing that he'd picked up on it.

"So, why'd you come back then?" she asks, somewhat irritably, slouching down in her seat. He bites his lip to hold back laughter.

"I had a job interview at a publishing house up here. So, I thought why not? It's not like my family are here anymore, and I don't have to live in that house–" She cuts him off.

"What's wrong with my house?" Violet says defensively, turning sharply to look at him, protective of her new house. "I think it has character and soul."

Tate flicks his eyes towards Violet every few seconds, trying to keep his eyes on the road at the same time. He likes her. She's fiery and mouthy and reminds him of himself a lot. But she was only 17, he reminds himself. She was still technically a child, even if she did seem beyond her years. Some people might get the wrong idea if he started hanging out with her.

"Nothing, nothing, I just… had a difficult childhood," he explains, turning into the school's parking lot. She stares at him, not wanting to get out of the car.

"Well, maybe you could tell me about it sometime," she says with a gentle smile. He smiles back.

"Yeah. Maybe." He definitely wants to see Violet again, but every inch of him screams out that it is wrong. He stares at the plastic, fake students that are milling around outside before the first bell. "I'm guessing this place hasn't changed much since I was here?" Tate sighs, looking in disgust as a group of high-heel wearing, short skirt clad girls with too much makeup on scuttle past. He thinks of what he nearly did all those years ago and his grip tightens on the wheel as he tries to clear the flashbacks from his mind. His life would have been a lot different if he hadn't been stopped and sent away…

"Yeah. I hate it here, with all their designer bullshit. I don't fit in here, but I don't care enough to try. They just have to accept that," she says, sitting up a little straighter in her seat. Tate turns to her, adoration in his eyes. Yes; definitely like him.

"You shouldn't fit in anyway. You should stand out." They smile at each other in silence, the tension in the car growing until Violet can't take it anymore. She opens the door quickly and gets out, leaning down to say one last thing.

"Thanks for the ride, Tate. See you around?" she asks, grinning her first proper grin in a long time at this gorgeous stranger. He grins back, his dimples making him look so much younger again.

"Sure. See you, Violet." She nods and closes the door. He watches her walk into the building, head down all the way, ignoring everyone and everything around her. Violet. She was nearly 18 and completely forbidden.

It was definitely worth moving back.

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><p><strong>So I hope you like it! My other fic has a few more chapters yet so it might be a while before I continue, but you never know, I might feel like writing this one instead every once in a while :) Reviews are lovely and help so much! <strong>

**If you have any requests for fics you'd like me to write, please feel free to leave them in a review or PM me :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Violet sits on the sand, raking it up in with hands and letting it pour through her fingers. Her eyes are closed, the sounds of the ocean loud in her ears and the sea breeze combs its way gently through her hair. A child squeals as their parent tries to make them leave, from the more crowded part of the beach, and Violet's eyes snap open in annoyance. She doesn't need another reminder that she'd have a sibling soon.

That was all her parent's had spent her birthday doing; talking about the baby. A baby boy that would have the task of making all their old problems go away. Good luck, Violet thinks sarcastically, scoffing slightly to herself. This was the best part of her 18th birthday; sitting, in solitude, on _her_ stretch of beach.

Violet tilts her head to the side as she hears quiet muttering from her right, getting louder as the people walk closer to her. She hears a girlish giggle and rolls her eyes, letting out a huff of frustration as they walk further into her sanctuary. She shifts her gaze away from the couple and scowls into the ocean, hoping they'll leave soon.

"Violet?" Her name in Tate's voice makes her shudder and she glances over her shoulder to see the man who used to live in her house, his hand held firmly in a woman's hand, her body half draped over his side. She blushes crimson when she thinks of how she acted that day, a month or so ago, when she first met him. How she had flirted with him, fawned over him like some besotted teenager. She supposed she was, she thinks sardonically.

"Hey, Tate," she says, hiding her cheeks in her folded arms that are resting comfortably on her knees. The three people stand in silence as the awkward seconds tick by. Finally, Tate knocks himself out of his daze and gestures to Violet with his free hand.

"Err, Lizzie, this is Violet – the girl that lives in my bedroom," he starts, grinning cheekily at Violet. She can't help but smile back, especially when she catches sight of Lizzie's confused face. Tate lets out a small chuckle and continues. "My old bedroom. Violet lives in the house I grew up in," he finishes, clearing up the situation. "Violet, this is my girlfriend, Lizzie."

Violet takes in the beautiful woman at Tate's side. Shiny brunette hair, developed body, elegant stance. She's perfectly mature and what any man would want to have hanging off their arm. Violet catches Lizzie casting a judging glance over her form. She smiles, more out of cockiness than politeness and waits for her to finish the appraisal.

"Hello, Violet. It's nice to meet you," Lizzie eventually says, letting a small, but welcoming, smile adorn her face. Violet just raises her hand slightly before settling back into her position on the sand. Another moment passes before Violet hears Lizzie murmur something to Tate – about getting ice cream or something unimportant – and she moves away, casting one last glance at the pretty teenager on the sand.

Tate watches his girlfriend walk away before letting out a sigh and lowering himself to the ground, mirroring Violet's stance exactly.

"So, someone else found my spot," he begins cryptically, smiling beautifully at Violet. She's taken aback for a moment by the closeness of his astounding smile but recovers herself, quirking an eyebrow questioningly. "When I was a teenager, I used to come here. When the world was closing in and got so small I couldn't breathe. And I'd look out at the ocean and I'd think, yo douche bag, high school counts for jack shit." He stares at her, and she gazes steadily back. "I saw the way the other kids looked at you when you got out of my car," he says, his eyes locked firmly on Violet's. A crimson blush covers her cheeks. "They used to look at me like that." Tate smiles gently at her, showing her he understands.

Violet stares into his impossibly dark eyes, looking at the honestly and understanding she sees there. She can feel it again; that uncontrollable feeling in the pit of her stomach, the tips of her fingers, to touch him, kiss him. She feels an unfamiliar clench in her stomach that fills her with a sinking feeling. It's wrong. She may be 18 now, she thinks wryly, but it still doesn't sit right, especially as she thinks of the innocent brunette getting ice cream. She wants to groan in frustration. If only they'd been born in the same time!

Violet swallows the lump in her throat. "She seems nice," she manages to croak out, gesturing in the direction Lizzie left with a nod of her head. Tate pulls in a deep breath through his nose and turns to look out at the ocean with emotionless eyes.

"Yeah, she does seem nice, doesn't she?" Violet frowns slightly. There's something off about Tate's tone of voice, but she can't quite figure it out. She stares at his profile for a while before daring to talk.

"You don't… think so?" she asks, tentatively, worried she might be prying. She doesn't understand herself anymore. She didn't act with caution and carefulness; she prided herself on being rude and brash. There was something different about him, though. Tate shakes his head and Violet's not quite sure of his answer.

"She's a lovely person," he says, somewhat vaguely. "So what are you doing out here by yourself? Is there still nothing for 17 year olds to do around here?" he joked half-heartedly, trying to change the subject as effortlessly as possible.

"Eighteen," Violet blurts out before she can stop herself. "It's… it's my birthday. Today," she says, shrugging nonchalantly. Tate turns to stare at her, directly in the face.

"And you're spending it on a secluded stretch of beach, by yourself?" he asks, puzzled. He has a strange feeling bubbling up inside of him, a feeling that he knows he needs to suppress as soon as possible. It's a feeling of warmth and recognition. He hasn't felt anything like it for a long time. He can see himself in Violet. He likes it. He peers down into her hazel eyes, wide and open to him, and takes in her fragile frame and barely-there curves. She's still only 18, he reminds himself. No matter what the legal age _he's_ still 34.

"They looked at you that way once, remember?" she quips, stretching out her limbs on the sand. He nods, his insides tingling still. He wants to tell her it gets better, but he's not sure that it does yet…

"Tate?" They both turn to see Lizzie standing, awkwardly, a few feet away. She's holding two dripping cones in her hands and squinting into the sunlight. "You ready to go?" Tate nods, scrambling up from the sand.

Violet smiles delicately, turning her face away for the small second she rearranges her features. There's something about the way he moves, the way he talks, that makes him seem like a teenaged boy still. Tate hasn't moved from looming over her, the sunlight behind him casting his whole body into shadow. Violet shields her eyes and looks up.

"Goodbye, Violet." He pauses, thinking for a second. "Happy Birthday." He smiles a wide grin and walks away, taking the cone from Lizzie, offering her a small smile and letting her place her hand in his again.

Violet watches them leave for a second longer before turning back towards the ocean, closing her eyes and flopping back against the sand, looking only at the bright smile that's still there behind her eyelids.

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><p><strong>Thank you so much for all the reviews for the first chapter! You guys are amazing! :D<strong>

**This chapter is a little shorter than normal, and still feels quite disjointed to me, because I'm still not sure where this fic is going but we'll see :)**

**Reviews are lovely! :) **


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